The Ponca City Public Schools Elementary, Middle, Advanced Philharmonic and Symphony Strings Orchestras will present their annual Holiday concert on Thursday, December 1, 2022.
The concert is free to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Ponca City Schools Concert Hall.
We are very excited that Santa is going to be able to make the journey back to Ponca City for our holiday concert. He will be in the lobby from 6:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. to take pictures with any patrons that would like to. We hope this adds to your holiday season.
The performance begins with the 86-member 6th Grade Orchestra taking the stage to perform John O’Reilly’s creative, all-pizzicato piece entitled Pizzicato Magic. The group will then perform a holiday favorite, Up On The Housetop. The 6th Grade Orchestra is under the direction of Katie Rolf and Cassidy Broome. The program continues with the 38-member 8th Grade Orchestra under the direction of Katie Rolf. The 8th Grade Orchestra will open with Elliott Del Borgo’s classical fugue Concertino In G. They continue the concert with the students gliding their way through the wintery piece Skiing Holiday by Alvin F. Mistak. They conclude their portion of the concert with Lloyd Conley’s arrangement of the familiar tune from The Sound of Music, My Favorite Things. Following the 8th Grade Orchestra will be the 35-member 7th Grade Orchestra under the direction of Cassidy Broome. Their first piece is an energetic piece, Hiawatha, composed by Soon Hee Newbold. Their second piece highlights the lower strings in Caryn Neidhold’s Rockin’ Ol’ St. Nick. The 7th Grade Orchestra will conclude their portion of the concert with Ukrainian Bell Carol, arranged by John Caponegro. The program continues with the 43-member High School Philharmonic orchestra under the direction of Cassidy Broome and Katie Rolf. The Philharmonic Orchestra will begin with Larry Moore’s arrangement of the popular, toe-tapping sea shanty Wellerman. They continue the concert with the adventure-filled Land of Dragons by Chris Thomas, featuring solos by Joe Leavitt (violin) and Emma Dye (cello). They conclude their portion of the concert with the Trans-Siberian favorite Faith Noel arranged by Bob Phillips.
Following the High School Philharmonic Orchestra is the 129-member 5th Grade Orchestra, performing Rolling Along, Good King Wenceslas and Jingle Bells. Select members of the Philharmonic and Symphony Strings Orchestra will accompany the 5th grade orchestra, under the direction of Cassidy Broome and Katie Rolf.
To conclude the concert, all of the orchestras will combine on stage to perform the traditional holiday tune Jingle Bells. We are excited to have selected members of the Symphony Strings Orchestra accompanying our orchestras this evening.
A special thank you to Paula Cochran, District Instrumental Music Coordinator, for accompanying the orchestras on the piano. Thank you to Jason Palmer, senior band member, for playing the drums. There is no admission charge and the public is cordially invited to attend this Holiday Concert.
